Cigarettes are cheaper in the former Eastern Bloc states like Poland etc where you can get 200 Lambert & Butler for approx £20. In Tesco that would cost you £67.40. White van man £40.00?
This is all because the Euro continues to spiral downward. So get yourself off on a trip and get your stocks replenished. Pay for your tobacco in Belgium with Sterling and if you are in Poland, Bulgaria get your Sterling changed there. Look around and you get some really good deals and if you negotiate you can do even better. Don't get your currency here in the UK for those countries.
Yes l know we've got the current tactics by HMRC but that's only if you get them seized. Go prepared with your Statement of Truth etc, set your recorder going as soon as you disembark so you are ready if stopped ( tell them you are recording them on your mobile phone and don't mention your covert recorder) and finally ... don't sign their notebook ... ever!
Don't be afraid of the UKBA/Border Force Bogeyman, stand your ground and take away his weapons that he loves to use on shoppers ... intimidation, interrogation and his notebook ... and then hit him with facts (not literally, although one has to be tempted at times).
We, ourselves, are going shortly. We'll give you the report when we return. Pop over to Daytripper for good ferry deals ... or have a look at the coach trips ... or try our bus with us! :)
FYI, Genuine GV or Cutters Choice from Spain is ₤8.50 from our local purveyor of smuggled goods. If anyone is paying much less than that then I can pretty much guarantee that it is Chinese counterfeit.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder about the intelligence of some people when they try and tell me that the tobacco they bought on the black market *really* is genuine but then they say they paid less than the amount on the tax stamp...
And yes the weak Euro makes shopping abroad even better value. I was surprised last week when I changed some sterling how many euros I got.
Yes, we are all getting approx 10%+ more than we did a few months back. lt actually should be a lot more but Brussels is propping the Euro up.
DeleteI've just came back yesterday from Brugge and the cost for G.V works out at £4.80 :)
DeleteGV does not cost 8.50 in Spain - it is 7.85 euros per 50g.
DeleteGreat news on baccy prices SH, any news on pipe tobacco though?
ReplyDeleteWhat's more I will only travel on your bus thank you very much!
Just before my obsequious comment goes to your head - how many beans make five?
One who knows his beans knows the price of pipe tobacco.
DeleteHi SH! Good to see you back after your last post which was a bit,um,(understandably) down.
ReplyDeleteLiving all the year in Greece but running a UK business I can really say that the exchange rate is hugely favourable towards sterling.
And that Greece is a great place to visit! There really are no riots outside a small part of Athens, tobacco runs at around E3.10 for 25gm, my Karelia long cigs are also E3.10 a packet of 20. And to date I've never been stopped by Customs flying back from Athens to Manchester.
Spent many a happy time in Piraeus when ship hopping but that was work. For recreation have always enjoyed Greece and it's islands. One thing left on my bucket list is Thermopylae.
DeleteAirports are generally better places to come into UK than the ferry ports to avoid harassment ... unless you have a passport that sets off flashing blue lights and bells like mine.
Shows the mentality of Customs though. l've been bringing in my own cigarettes for 20+ years now, stopped numerous times and never had anything taken off me. Yet they see that as a reason to continue stopping me! if that isn't a definition of stupidity, l don't know what is.
Hey guys. you have probably already seen this but i thought it may interest anyone who hasn't.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hmrc.gov.uk/thelibrary/tobacco-products.pdf
Thanks for that - will be printing copy for my travel folder.
DeleteContains a lot of comedy that doc! :)
DeleteYea we thought the same. Contradiction or what and Yea we printed ours and it's in our folder ready for sunday...woop woop...bring it on. Also taking some of your cards SH to spread the word of the wonderful work you are doing. Maximum Respect to you all. ;)
DeleteSorry, Mr Dwarf, but the going rate round here for genuine GV/Amber Leaf is £7/£7.50 - fake versions about a fiver.
ReplyDeleteLiving in London there is so much competition amongst White Man Vans that the market economy has pushed the price down.
I think I can honestly say that I don't know a single corner shop, pub, nightclub, bookies or works canteen in SE London that doesn't have at least one regular patron with a large bag full of baccy.
Spoke to a couple of them about the new UKBF tactic - general response from your actual smuggler was 'Won't affect me. What kind of idiot spends a grand on stock then walks away without it?' Might be different if someone else has paid for you to carry it, but round here I think they are all what you could call 'Self Employed Smugglers', or possibly 'Entrepeneurs in the less-regulated sector of the Import Industry' and the new policy won't affect them one jot - again, it is the genuine cross-border shopper who is being hit, just to get the UKBF statistics looking better.
Very true Anon 10.34. Mr & Mrs normal cross-border shopper have a tendency to ignore our advice as they believe it won't happen to them because they believe the spin put out by UKBF that seizures only happen to smugglers. These shoppers actually believe that UKBF are highly trained professionals and will know immediately shoppers that are are genuine and legitmate. A car crash waiting to happen, l'm afraid.
DeleteYeah then they come crying
DeleteCan we get enough folk from the Greater Manchester,
ReplyDeleteSouth Lancashire, North Cheshire area to justify the
baccy bus doing a special one off to Belgium.
I can muster probably 4-5 from Stalag Mancunia but
what about t'others.
U NO U
PS
Have the other campaigns,bloggers etc etc done a runner or what?, the lack of activity ,the silence,
the compliance is becoming embarassing.
Time for an head count to find out WHO IS WHO in this fight, who is doing pavements and who is doing keyboards.
This latest tactic by HMRC is making people hang back. They obviously want to see what happens to us on our trip. l can understand their viewpoint but l'm afraid my viewpoint is l'm doing what is my legal right to do and they shall not deter me from doing so.
DeleteCurrently l'm arranging in my area talks at pubs. l shall hopefully educate them as to their rights and reality and dispel the myths and spin put out by HMRC/UKBA/BF. From these l will endeavour to get members for the N2D Social Club and trips.
Border Force are continuing to ignore their own regs and procedures to seize goods from innocent unsuspecting shoppers. Most recent one is they seized just 15 sleeves of cigarettes a man bought for his wife. He goes once a year (alone) and always has done. Unfortunately he did not record the interview and signed their notebook. l've looked at the evidence so far and the only reason they gave was that they did not believe his wife smoked so the cigarettes must be for a commercial purpose!
Everytime UKBF do this they create another enemy for themselves ... and in doing so swell the ranks of us who won't take their crap!
"the only reason they gave was that they did not believe his wife smoked so the cigarettes must be for a commercial purpose!"
DeleteI know jobs are hard to come by these days but I'm frankly amazed more UKBA'ers don't quit in sheer disgust at what they are made to do...says something about the sort of person who works for them.
I'd be embarrassed to be any kind of LEO using that sort of 'justification'.
Please ring on 0114 348 7843 to arrange bus.
DeleteNext wednesday is good 1st August
bobi sec n2d social club
When where you thinking for thr belgium trip
ReplyDeleteGarry +1
Next wednesday 1st August
Delete